Process of preserving and improving lumber.



JOHN WARREN ILLINGWORTH, OF WILKES-BAERE, PENNSYLVANIA; HELEN 1E.

HARTZELL ADMINISTRATBIX OF SAID ILLINGWORTH, DECEASED.

PROCESS OF PRESERVING AND IMPROVING LUMBER.

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To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN WARREN ILLING- WORTH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Wilkes-Barre, in the county of Luzerne and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Preserving and Improving Lumber, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to processes for preserving and improving lumber, especially lumber to be used for structural purposes.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a process by which lumber may be preserved and improved on a commercial scale so as .to compete successfully in the open market with the natural lumber now used.

A further object is to provide a process, the steps of which do not require any considerable length of time.

A still further object is to provide a chea'p process whereby a low grade wood rich in gums and acids may be very quickly improved, so that it is equal, if not superior, to the higher and more expensive grades of Wood.

In carrying out my process, I take a freshly cut log and remove portions of the bark therefrom as by scarifying the surface of the log or by squaring it off and then while still in its green state, I immerse it in a bath of lime slush, or a thick, pasty mass of slaked lime. When the green wood is left in'this bath for a short time as twenty-four hours, 1t is improved considerably, but the improvement is even more marked as the period of immersion is increased.-

I have found by experimentation that the saps of the green wood itself may be utilized for carrying the particles of the lime up the pores of the woodyand after the lime is so impregnated into the wood, it acts upon the gums and acids'to fix the same and render them impervious to moisture, and obviates the possibility of fermentation of the sap with the attendant deleterious eifects upon the fiber of the wood. Also, the wood is rendered immunefrom the destructive attacks .of insects, larvae and other forms of animal life, which hitherto have made the life of the lower grades of wood very short. The wood, after thus being removed from its bath, actually improves instead of deteriorates with age inasmuch as the fixing action Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Uct. an, 1915.

Application filed May as, 1913. Serial no. 770,334..

of the lime upon the gums and acids forming the sap continues for an extended period of time and the more thoroughly these ingre woods above enumerated, may be cut during the summer, provided too great a time is not allowed to elapse between the cutting of the.

wood to the time of immersion in the bath of lime slush. After the wood has been removed from the bath, no matter how much it may be subjected to temperatures such as may be expected in summer months, it will not deteriorate and will actually continue to improve in quality and its ability to resist decomposition.

The use of the lime slush is important as I have found that the pasty mass gives the most rapid results, and thus for some purposes, it is possible to obtain the requisite quality of the wood in as short a time as twenty-four hours.

By reason of'immersin the wood when it is still in a green state, t e saps themselves aid in conveying the lime up the pores and thus it is not necessary to have a thin solution to secure the same result. On the other hand, with such a pasty mass, the large excess of lime causes a mass of solid particles of lime to be deposited in the pores for some distance into, the wood which together with the other lime carried farther into the pores and acting chemically upon the-gums and green wood and immersing the same, whiletl still green and before any substantial loss of the gums and resins in a bath of lime slush. 2. The process of treating Wood freshly cut from the stump consisting in scarifying the surface thereof while the Wood is still green to an extent such as to expose the fiber of the Wood and then immersing the wood thus treated while still green and before any substantial loss of the gums and resins in a bath of lime slush for a length of time suflicient to cause considerable absorption of the lime by the pores in the wood to act chemically upon the gums and resins in the sap and fix the same, and also a portion of the lime remaining in its natural uncombined state and serving as a physical barrier against penetration of animal life.

3. The process of treating wood having a 27th day of May A. D. 1913.

sap containing gums and acids consisting in removing a portion of the bark from the green wood and immersing the same, while still green and before any substantial amount of gums and resins have been lost in a bath of lime slush, the lime acting chemi- JOHN WARREN ILLINGWORTH. Witnesses:

, FRANK M. ASHLEY, MINNIE S. MILLER. 

